Friday, January 11, 2008

Subject: Re: Ghost Stories and Umbrellas - the Horror of It All at LIM & Beyond

Guess what -- Love is Murder (www.loveISmurder.net) has MysteryWriters of America's Of Dark & Stormy Nights as a parter, whichmeans plenty of thriller, mystery, suspense, intrigue and romancetalk, but LIM also has the fearful Twilight Tales as a partner,and Twilight Tales is about ghosts and goblins both horrendousand slapstick. Horror and humor often combine with thesupernatural, and I'd like to go deep into the horror and thehumor of it all at LIM in its 10th year at Chicago, first weekendof February, for Love is Murder is also presenting an Edgar AllanPoe Book Discussion with excerpts read live (hopefully live)authors William Kent Kruger, Tess Gerritsen, and Barry Eisler. But there will be a lot of live authors on hand at LIM and LIM ishosting the Horror Panel which I will be sharing with moderatorScarlet Dean, Tracy Carbone, Marilyn Meredith, Wally Cwik, andMichelle Gagnon--and we intend to blow open wide the preconceivednotions of what constitutes horror.

In addition at LIM there's a panel entitled Feel the Terror (JDWebb, Darren Callahan, Wally Cwik, Sherry Scarpaci, moderated byJennifer Jordan of Crimespree Magazine. Another panel is onMagic & Sex! This with Scarlet Dean again, Honora Finklestein,Sue Smily, Rebecca Kholes, Jana Oliver and moderator CarrenCallahan. And interestingly enough one entited When You Know theMoment is Right (I kid you not!) And of course Joe Konrath is aone man "horror" show. Of course, Lee Child will be on hand forthe ladies who love suspense with a British accent. But you knowwhat? Not everyone understands the huge scope, sweep, and powerof ghost stories, supernatural tales of revenants, vaults,disturbed graves, and horror or reality-based terror. Herein, Ihope to shed some light:

Ghost stories are a natural for the larger umbrella of horror. Horror is not a genre first but first and foremost an emotiobn;it is the only genre named for an emotion. Horror appeared onstage in plays as far back as the Greeks, and I am sure it playeda large part in the gruntings of cavemen about the fire when theyretold the hunmt. It is not so much a category of fiction as itis a fact of life and an emotion. The word romance is not anemotion. Western is not an emotion, nor is mystery. Fear isanother word but so far we don't have a section in the bookstorefor Fear books. Under the large umbrella of what constitutesfear and terror and horror in a reader\person certainly a serialkiller must fall, so the forensic-serial killer chase novelcertainly overlaps with horror. When I began writing the serialkiller series for Dr. Jessica Coran, my eleven book Instinctseries, it was a natural offshoot of having written books whereinthe central antagonist was a monster. It was not much of atransition to work into human fiends.

The ghost road, ghost hotel, ghost house on haunted hill, themodern day haunts like the underground parking lot, theunfinished room, the local Starbucks, etc., all the supernaturaltales are, in my opinion, difficult to pull off. Creating thisniche of horror can go into what we call the psychologicalchiller or the physiological chiller, that is a story hinges onsome psychological turn of the screw, or it can hinge upon anactual, physical presence. There are legitimate ways to terrifyyour reader, and there is "going for the gross out" to horrifyyour reader. Or as in the best such horror, BOTH. It can betaken on both levels, leaving it to the reader to decide how muchhappened in the mind, how much in this world. And so often muchmore reaction can be had from that which is offstage than on,that which is subtle as opposed to a hammer over the head. JayBonninsinga said of my City for Ransom that "this book will beatthe hell out of you." Music to my ears, and I trust he meant itin the best most complimentary way but last time I saw Jay, hewas sporting a bandaged head (just kidding here).

When some of us horror authors insist that horror must have amonster on stage, these folks are being narrow-minded andsomewhat bias as to what the category can and does aspire to inits best moments. The Horror Writers of America not too manyyears ago awarded their highest honor, the Stoker Award (BramStoker, Dracula creator), to Thomas Harris for Silence of theLambs. Was that horror? In my and many an author's mind, theanswer must be a resounding yes. Horror is what makes the readerjump and gasp and start and shakily go on to the next line. Ihave had readers tell me they've thrown the book across theroom--my book! This delights me, and when the reader adds, "ButI crawled over there a little later and continued to read" --well that is music to my ears. At an author's party in Chicagoan 8-year-old sauntered up to me and asked, "Are you the man whoscares my grandma?" I knew her grandma, wife to a writer friendnamed Tom Keever, Aurelia. So I confessed up. Then the littlegirl conspiratorially added, "And you know what, Mr. Walker?" What? I asked. "Grandma, she reads your books, true, but eachnight she puts them out on the porch. She can't sleep with themin the house." More music to my ears. I created a sense of fearand terror in the reader. No apologies.

A really truly wonderful ghost story can have that quality--thatit creates fear or a sense of wonder, or cause beads of sweat atthe back of the neck. Supernatural and ghost stories, I cut myteeth on them with such shows as One Step Beyond, The InnerSanctum, Twilight Zone, and untold numbers of books, one fo thebest being the first Haunted Heartland. Ghost stories do indeedfit snugly beneath the large, large umbrella of the horrorcategory in that they can and do induce terror from the reader.

Then again there are humorous ghost stories and inspirationalghost stories that do not frighten but enlighten and touch uponthe endearing spirit of mankind and womankind. If you've everseen Hume Cronin and Jessica Tandy in that wonderful Hallmarktale wherein Hume's the ghost and Jessica can't leave the oldhome because she fears he will really be gone and lost and unableto find her...that is not terrifying yet it is about a ghost, andof course you have the Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Disney's Bluebirdor was it Blackbird--comedy. These kinds of ghost stories failto horrify yet they do other things as important--maybe moreso--as in make us laugh. You might call these ghost storiesromances, or at east romantic and you could call this oneintrigue, and this one slapstick humor, and this other onedeviously clever literature.

Interestingly enough, just about every author considerd a classicfrom Twain to the first novelist and back again has tried hishand at the ghost story in one fashion or another. Frankensteinbegan as telling tales in the dark, remember? So the ghost storytoo is a large, large umbrella but most certainly the mostterrifying ghost stories fall into the horror category. In theend, it is all to do with the author's skill and purpose.

For those looking for folks really into ghost stories go towww.justghoststories@yahoogroups.com Tell 'em I sent ya!